German Retailers Working Groups

German Retailers Working Groups on Living Income and Living Wages

Producers in global supply chains are to be enabled to earn living wages and incomes. This is the goal set by the German Retailers Working Groups on Living Income and Living Wages.

At the 2020 International Green Week, the German retailers ALDI Nord, ALDI Süd, dm-drogerie markt, Kaufland and REWE Group and Lidl signed a joint voluntary commitment, thereby undertaking to actively work towards developing and implementing responsible business practices in their global supply chains. By pooling their resources and coordinating their activities – both within the working group itself and with other initiatives – everyone works together to exert maximum leverage to ensure living wages and incomes.

So-called living wages and incomes make a significant contribution to combatting poverty, promoting humane working conditions and abolishing child and forced labour. In addition, they increase the appeal of agriculture as an employment sector for generations to come, thereby securing the future supply of raw materials.

Common operational framework for achieving this goal

The working group has defined the following operational framework for its activities, which are initially being implemented in the form of a joint project in the banana sector:

Living wages in the banana sector

The working group has decided to develop concepts for establishing living wages, initially for the raw material banana. ALDI Nord and ALDI Süd, dm-drogerie markt, Kaufland and Rewe Group are working closely together on this.

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Living incomes in the coffee sector

Since 2023, the Working Group has been advocating for Living Income and Living Wages in the coffee sector. Together, dm-drogerie markt, Kaufland, Lidl, and REWE Group are working on improving the income and living conditions of smallholder farmers in their coffee supply chains. A pilot project in Honduras and Peru marks the beginning.